Driving mechanism for slicing machines



p 20, 1932- c. F. M. VAN BERKEL 1,873,067

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SLICING MACHINES Filed Dec. 9. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1$ 1 7 fix Sept. 20, 1932. c. F. M. VAN BERKEL DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SLICING MACHINES Filed Dec. 9 1929' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 20, 1932 retest? PATENT er ems eel-mm. M: N lsen-Ken, or WASSENAAR, NETHERLANDS, ASSIGNOR TO U. s.

SIiICINGiMAGHINE COMPANYg'OFLA FORTE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA 1DRIV'ING fMEGHANISM FOR SLICING MACHINES Thisinvention relates to slicing machines "of the type wherein acarriage for supporting the substance. to be sliced is adapted to 'be .reciprocated past a rotatable'knife by .a "force exerted directly upon the carriage, and wherein the knife is adaptedto be rotated by :meansconn'ectedtothe carriage and adapted 'to be a'ctuated'. by {the movements ofxthe iag j iIn ma'chines ofthisnaturefihe carriageis .generally providedwith a handle .which is grasped by, the operator who uses thehandle sameansfor imparting movement to the V "carriage.

@116. 'One. object of the'present invention is to P provide; a; flexible connection betweenthe carriage. and .the knife, said fle'ziible connec- --ti6n being sed to rotate the knife. as the carriage is;;reciprocated.

5.20 iA further objejct' of "this invention is'fthe provision of a suitable free wheel device connected to the knife and actuated by the. flexible conne'ctio'nfor imparting movement to theknifef H, I .1

Ano'ther *Qbject' of this, invention is tthe provision of pawl and ratchet mechanism between the gears which drive the knife and the 'fle'gible element which is connected to'the re-' ciprocatingf table. f' The pawl" and ratchet 130 mechanisni' is adaptedto-impart movement to the'gea-rs asfthe' fieiiible[element moves in one d'i-re'ction only, or as the carriage moves in one direction only; Q 5

A st' ill furthenobjeet of this invention is the'=provisionof= a'fleXible drivewhich may Fig; 1 is an elevational' view-with certain .in Fig; 3. r v

In Fig. 1, the slicingmachine comprises lthe base: 1 having aLcarria'ge' 2= adapted to reciprocate fthereon;-rsaid carriage being supt0 apnntedby fthe- :antiffrfrictionrollers3 fastened I .App1icatiom filediiDecember 951929, Serial No. 412,658, and in Great Britain December 21,- 1928.

to the carriage. The substance 4:, which is to be sliced, is mounted on the feed table 5,.of the slicing machine, in the usual manner and is clamped thereon by means of a clamping bar .6 supported on the upright guides 7' and 8. This feed table5 is given a step by adapted to enclose the driving mechanisms for the-slicing machine. This driving mech- M anism'comprisesa (driven gear 12 fixed to the shaft 10 and a driving gear 13 supported upon a shaft 14 journaled in the casing 11.

A pulley 15 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 14- and is yi-eldingly urged in a clockwisedirection, about the shaft 14 by the f spring 16 connected at 17 to the pulley 15 and tonthe casing 11. at 18,-the connections 17 and 18Lbeing any suitable form of-pin adapted ,toextend through loops formed at the opposite ends of the spring 16. A ratchet 19 is so also mounted nnv the shaft 14 and is' interposeolbetween the gear. 13 and the pulley 15.

"The ratchet 19, is constrained to move with thepulley 15 and may be madeintegral therewith or rigidly connected thereto, as may be 35 idesired. .Pawls 20. pivoted on gear 13 are adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet .19 and springs 21 are used'to rotate the. pawls into operative engagement with the teeth. Nhile I have shown fiat springs engaging oi the pawls, I wish it to' be understood that, if 'desiredfl' may provide any other suitable type of spring, such as a coil spring arranged around the; pivot of each pawl for rotating A, the pawls into engagement with the ratchet teeth; With the pawls arranged as illustrated in Fig. 1, it will be noted that if a coun ter clockwise rotation isimparted to the 'piil leyll5, the gear13zwil alsobe given a --"counter--blockwise movement due to the en- 7 base 1.

"19 eta-a .q'aecment of the pawls with the teeth of the ratchet 19. The 13 will impart a clock wise rotation to the the knife 9 will be rotated in a clockwise direction since the knife 9 and the gear 12 are 7 both rigidly mounted on the shaft 10. I-Iowever, it will be noted that in the event that the pulley 15 isrotated a clockwise direction, the pawls 20 will ride over the teeth on the ratchet 19 so that no motion is imparted to the gears 13 and 12 or to, the knife 9.

As previously explained, the pulley 15 1S given a clockwise rotation by means of the spring 16. In order to rotate the pulley 15 in a counter-clockwise direction, I provide the pulley 15 with a groove in the periphery thereof and fasten one end of a flexible ele ment 22 to the periphery of the pulley at 23 and train the flexible element 22 over the pulley so that it rests in the groove in the periphery thereof. The end of the flexible element 22 is trained over the guide pulleys 24, 25 and 26 freely rotatable on pivot pins rigidly connected to the base of the machine, the pulleys 24 and 25 being arranged within the housing 27 secured to or made integral with the base 1 of the slicing machine. The other pulley 26 is arranged beneath the upper surface of the base member 1 as best illustrated in Fig. 2.

The carriage 2 has a rod28 extending lows ':The operator grasps the handle 32 and manually reciprocates the carriage 2 on the step movement toward the cutting plane of the knife 9 so that successive slices are cut therefrom. As the carriage moves to the left, as viewed in either Figs. 1 or 2, the flexible element is carried along therewith due to its connection with the rod 28. This movement of the flexible element causes the pulley 15 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, thereby imparting a counter-clockwise movement to the gear 13 due to the pawl and ratchet connection previously described. Rotation of the gear 13 rotates the gear 12, and, consequently, the knife 9. As the carriage is moved to the right, however, the tension of the spring 16 rotates the pulley 15 in a clockwise direction and the pawls 20 ride over the teeth on the ratchet 19 and no movement is imparted to the knife 9, due to the rotation However, the knife 9 iS gear 12 and, as a result,

The material 4 is given a step by.

may be placed upon the shaft 10, or shaft 14,

so that the rotation imparted to the knife during the movement of the carriage to the left, will store up energy in the fly-wheel and cause said fly-wheel to rotate the knife during the time that the carriage is moving to the right. In this manner, the knife; is kept moving continuously in one direction, as enough energy may be imparted to the flywheel to cause the fly-wheel to rotate the knife 9 until the next movement of the carriage 2 to the left. Thus, it will be seen that with a device constructed as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a motion is imparted to the slicing knife by. simply moving the carriage back andforth past the cutting edge'of the knife andthere is no necessity for providing a separate driving means for the knife. In Figs. 3 and 4, I have shown a modification of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In this modification, however, it is not necessary to provide a means separate from the carriage for returning the flexible element to its original position, the flexible element being moved in both directions by its connection-with the carriage of the slicing machine. In this modification of the device. the slicing machinecomprises the base member 1, carriage 2', anti-friction elements 3, feed table 5, clamp- Kill ing element 6', uprights 7 and 8', all of these pivotally mounted on the sprocket 39 which is rotatably mounted on the shaft 34. e

vA chain 40 is trained over the sprocket 39 and also the sprockets 41, 42 and 43 arranged within a casing formed integral with or connected rigidly, as,desired,'to the side of the base member 1'. A depending member 44 on the carriage 2 extends downwardly through the slot 45 in the upper surface of the base 1' and this downwardly depending member has a lateral extension 46 having a. groove 48 in the end 47 thereof, the chain passing through the groove and being held rigidly therein by any suitable fastening means. The carriage 2 is provided with a handle 49 carried'by suitable brackets 50 mounted on. one end of the carriage.

The operation of the device 3 and 4 is as follows The carriage 2' is moved as in Figs. 1 and 2 by the operator who grasps the handle 49 and imparts a reciprocation to the carriage shown in Figs.

Ind

2' past the cutting edge of the knife 33, the depending member 44 being carried along therewith. Sinc the chain 40 is rigidly connected to the depending member 44, the same is caused to move first in one direction and I then in the other, thereby rotating the s ct 39 in a clocl vise dir n, the moves to the left, and in a con. -clockwise direction, as the carriage moves to. the right. As the carriage moves to the left and the sprocket, as a result, moves in a clockwise direction, the shaft 34 will be caused to rotate in a clockwise direction due to the engage ment of the pawls-37 with the teeth on the ratchet 36. This causes the knife 33 to rotate in a clockwise direction so as to out slices from the substance 4 as it is moved past the cutting edge of the knife, the slices being deflected, by means of a slice deflector, not shown, onto the receiving table 51, a similar receiving table 51 being shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As the carriage is moved to the right, in Figs. 3 and 4, the pawls 3'? ride over the teeth of the ratchet 36 so that the counter-clockwise rotation of the sprocket 39 does not impart a movement in a similar direct on to the knife 33 and the knife is free to continue its rotation in a clockwise direction, due to its inertia. As stated in connection with the W modification shown in F 1 and 2, a flywheel may be provided to assist the knife in continuing its clockwise rotation during the time when the driving means for the knife is I inoperative. lfdesired, the knife itself may 95 be made heavy enough to act as a fly-wheel. I wish to have it understood that while I have shown my invention as applied to a slicing machine in which the carriage reciprocates past the knife, the invention is capable of being used with machines of other types, such in the proper direction as the carriage reciprocates.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 7 In a slicing machine, the combination with a table, of a rotating slicing knife, of a rotatable spindle upon which said knife is mounted, a free-wheel mounted on said knife spindle and adapted to rotate said knife when said free-wheel is mo'vedinone d rection but inoperative to actuate said knife when said free-wheel is moved in the opposite direction, a continuous endless flexible element for driving said free-wheel, and a rigid member on said table and connected directly to said flexible element to move said flexible element said table and kn fe move relative toward and from each other, sa d flexible element being directly connected to drive said free-wheel and extending around idler elements to change the direction of movement of said flexible element to thereby hold said flexible element out of a position which would interfere with the slices as they are cut by the slicing knife from a substance on said support.

as those in which the carriage oscillates past the knife, or those in which the carriage moves continuously in one dlrection about a pivot. Instead of using a free WllQBl conit may be found desirable to use some other type of free wheel connection such as a 15316- tion clutch arranged within the hubof either the gear 13 or the sprocket 39. Such friction an annular portion r tatably mounted thereon with suitable friction gripping devlces interposed'between the adyacent surfaces of nection such as that shown in the drawings,-

clutches usually consist of a hub portion and .said hub portion and annular portion, the

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this 21st day of November A. D. 1929.

' CORNELIS F.1d. VAN BERKEL. 

